Show and Tell Tuesday: Pets

It’s been a long time since I’ve linked up with Show and Tell Tuesday, and I thought today was the perfect topic for me! It’s fun, lighthearted and just what I need to write about!

PETS!

Growing up, we had an interesting selection for pets. We didn’t have access to gerbils, hamsters, golden retrievers or fish, but we DID have access to lizards and snakes, all kinds of exotic birds, goats and cows and chickens and Guinea fowl. I remember one time when we came back to the States and my Mom took my brother and I to a petting zoo. And cage after cage of animal I was so confused…because back in Niger those were our pets, not zoo animals! Haha!

For example….here I am…carrying a puppy on my back. I don’t even know. No, that was not a “normal” African thing!

Overall, though, my family stuck to a pretty normal array of animals. We had chickens, we occasionally had a goat (that served it’s purpose for meat more than being a pet), and at one point we had an entire aviary with all kinds of birds. We never had a dog, but the one pet that we had and loved for years and years and years was our cat, Midnight.

My brother picked her out when we first moved to Tera, and she was an incredible cat. She had several litters of kittens before she was fixed, she was indoor/outdoor potty trained, and she was an incredible mouser/lizard catcher. When we went on furlough, she would take care of herself and would always show up when we got back (even though we were gone for a year at a time!). She wasn’t a very cuddly cat, but she always loved Daniel and would tolerate the rest of us.

Midnight is in the background of this picture, and Daniel and I are holding her kittens.

I do not know why I look high in this picture, but here I am with Midnight again a few years later.

We went through lots of other cats during the times we had Midnight. I can think of at least four cats that we had, but they just never connected into our family the way that Midnight did.

When she was 15, we moved a few hours away and of course we took her with us! She had to become an indoor cat since we were living in the city, and she seemed to do fine with it, but we all knew she was nearing the end of her life. We never took her to a vet, but we are fairly certain that she got a brain tumor and that is eventually why she died.

I still remember the evening that she died. She completely gave up the day before, and we knew it was coming. I think we were all a little relieved. She was 16 years old, and was obviously in pain. She had lived such a great life, so when she did die we were all glad that she wasn’t suffering anymore and we had SO many great memories of her.

It’s because of Midnight that I LOVE cats. I mean… I am going to be an old cat lady.

The week after we got back from our honeymoon, Theo and I got a cat.

Moose!

We literally treated this cat like our kid. We took him everywhere, and he slept on my pillow from the time that we got him until Tera came along and he got kicked out of our bedroom.

Just like with Midnight, we have had other cats, but they have all come and gone while Moose sticks around!

Throughout our four years of marriage, we have also had two dogs. One passed away soon after we got him, and the other one didn’t work out for our family. We have decided once and for all that we are not dog people, and we won’t be attempting that again!

I can’t wait to watch my kids grow up and see what kinds of pets they incorporate into our family and try to sneak into our house! Tera absolutely loves animals, and if she had her own way, she would have one of everything! I want to foster that love in her, but I also need to know my limits.

What about you? What kinds of pets have you had/do you have?